


L'amour Conquiert Tout

by MsPooslie, RavenclawWitch18



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: A lot of children, Alternate Universe - Mermaid, Eggpreg, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Mer Queen, OFC - Freeform, Original Male Character - Freeform, Posiedon - Freeform, guppies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-04 00:13:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21188336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsPooslie/pseuds/MsPooslie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenclawWitch18/pseuds/RavenclawWitch18
Summary: Seaton and Bruinen have always wanted to start a family. Now, they finally get their chance to.





	L'amour Conquiert Tout

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Blue Scales](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3347195) by [chaya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaya/pseuds/chaya). 

> I got the idea for this after reading Blue Scales by Chaya. If you haven't read it yet, please click on the link in the inspired by section and go check it out. It is a serious amazing fic and I was lucky to stumble across it. Originally, I had a different ending in mind for this. It was still going to be happy, but drastically different. But after a lot of stuff in real life, I realized that I no longer wanted to take that path. So I went with the alternative that I had considered and previously decided against. If anyone wants to know how it was originally going to go, feel free to ask and I'll tell you.

Bruinen swam home at a steady pace. Work had been busy today. Now that the water was getting warm again, people were coming in to place orders to have building or repairs done on their homes or businesses. Bruinen and his crew had enough work lined up to keep them busy throughout the entire warm season. There was even enough work for the other four teams to stay busy for the season as well.

Swimming through the front door, Bruinen called “Seaton, I’m home.”

“In the bedroom, Brui.” Seaton called.

Frowning, Bruinen swam to the back of the house where their bedroom was. Inside, he found Seaton still slightly curled up on their bed. Bruinen came to a stop next to Seaton and reached down to stroke a hand through his mate’s soft golden hair.

“Are you still having cramps, starfish?”

Seaton shook his head, careful not to dislodge Bruinen’s fingers from his hair. He rather enjoyed having Bruinen pet him. “No, the cramps stopped a while ago, around lunch time. Now I just feel tired and sore.”

Bruinen made a low crooning noise in the back of his throat. “Poor mate. Do you know what caused your cramps and what is causing your pain now?”

“It’s my season, Bruinen.”

Those words caused Bruinen to freeze and his hand to stop petting Seaton’s hair. Seaton made an almost inaudible noise in protest but Bruinen was still frozen in shock.

  
“What?” He croaked when he could finally force his voice to work.

Seaton pushed himself up on his left arm. The move dislodged Bruinen’s hand from his hair. “It’s my season. We can have guppies now, if we want. Or if you’re not ready, we don’t have to do anything.”

One look at Seaton’s face told Bruinen everything he needed to know. Seaton very much wanted to have guppies with Bruinen. But Seaton was nothing if not respectful of other people’s choices and wishes. It was part of what had made Bruinen fall for the smaller merman. Seaton was ready to have guppies now. But if Bruinen wasn’t ready, then Seaton would suffer through this season without laying the eggs that his body was producing. Seaton was fully prepared to suffer the pain that would come with that option. Lucky for him, Bruinen was one-hundred percent on board with having guppies now. More specifically, he wanted guppies with Seaton.

“I’m ready. I want to make guppies with you.”

The heartbreaking relief that flashed across Seaton’s face told Bruinen that his mate hadn’t been sure they were thinking the same thing. With a powerful flick of his tail, Bruinen propelled himself up and over Seaton. He settled on the soft kelp behind Seaton and pulled his mate to him. Seaton allowed Bruinen to pull him around until he was in the position Bruinen wanted.

Bruinen reached down and felt along Seaton’s tail for the opening that he knew would be there. It barely took him a few seconds as it wasn’t the first time he had gone hunting for it and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. He slipped a finger inside and immediately found Seaton’s cock. Using a couple of fingers, he coaxed the slightly hard organ to emerge from Seaton’s tail. Gently stroking it, Bruinen leaned down to whisper in Seaton’s ear.

“I can’t even imagine how beautiful you’ll look in a few days, stomach swollen with eggs that will be the home of our future guppies. You’re already the most breathtaking creature I’ve ever seen. Knowing that you’re round because your body is preparing to lay eggs, eggs that I will fertilize to create our children…” Bruinen trailed off as a shudder rolled through his body at the image. His hand momentarily tightened on Seaton’s cock, causing the smaller merman to let out a breathy gasp followed by a low moan.

“Please, Bruinen, don’t tease.” Seaton begged when he got his breath back.

“Who’s teasing, starfish? I don’t know if I have the patience for that tonight.” Bruinen answered.

As if to prove his point, Bruinen tightened his hand and stroked Seaton at a firm, steady pace. Bruinen has no desire to deny Seaton what he wants or needs right now. The process of creating and growing eggs is difficult enough. Anything that Bruinen can do to make it even the slightest bit easier for Seaton, he’ll do.

Less than five minutes later, Seaton is tensing and crying out as he comes all over Bruinen’s hand. Bruinen quickly brings his hand up to his mouth and licks every drop from his hand before the water has a chance to wash it away. The taste of Seaton will always be superior to anything Bruinen has ever and will ever savor as long as he lives.

Bruinen gently holds Seaton close to him as Seaton comes down from his orgasm. It takes a few minutes before Seaton has managed to pull himself together enough to be aware of what is going on around him. Bruinen’s hand, which had previously been stroking up and down Seaton’s arm, was knocked aside as the smaller merman struggled to flip himself over. Bruinen put both hands on Seaton’s hips, just above his tail and helped him turn over. The moment he was facing Bruinen, Seaton’s hand slid down his tail to where Bruinen’s scales had parted to reveal his own cock.

Bruinen just barely managed to grab Seaton’s hand before he could touch Bruinen’s cock.

“You don’t have to Stevie. I’ll be just fine in a few minutes.”

Seaton pulled Bruinen into a kiss as a way of silencing him. Bruinen surrendered himself to the kiss, knowing that in just a few days, Seaton would be leaving him for several days while he laid the eggs. When Seaton finally pulled back, he rested his forehead against Bruinen’s.

“I want to. You made me feel so good. Let me return the favor now while I still can before I have to go to the nest.”

Bruinen could see the earnest desire in Seaton’s face and had no further arguments. He would never be able to deny Seaton something he truly wanted. And right now, Seaton wanted to make Bruinen feel the pleasure he had just given to Seaton.

Bruinen pulled back slightly, just enough to allow Seaton room to slide his hand down Bruinen’s tail and grasp his cock.

“Don’t tease me Seaton. I’m too close and I’ll come in just a few minutes.” Bruinen panted.

Instead of answering with words, Seaton tightened his hand and stroked Bruinen quickly. True to his prediction, Bruinen was coming all over Seaton’s hand just a few minutes later. Just as Bruinen had done, Seaton quickly raised his hand to his mouth so that he could lick off Bruinen’s release. 

Bruinen groaned as he watched Seaton swallow Bruinen’s very essence. Essence that, in just a few days, would hopefully fertilize Seaton’s eggs to create guppies.

“You’re going to kill me, my little starfish.”

“You better not die.” Seaton said in mock seriously. “I have a lot of plans for you and none of them involve you dying anytime soon.

Bruinen snorted and pulled Seaton in closer as they settled down to sleep. Seaton was going to need a lot of rest in the next few days to prepare for when he went to lay the eggs.

Over the next few days, Seaton spent most of his time alternating between resting in their bed and seeking as much contact with Bruinen as he could get. Bruinen was more than happy to oblige Seaton in his desire for contact as being near Seaton satisfied his instincts that demanded he stay near Seaton to protect him. He had already sent a message to work saying that he wouldn’t be in for a few weeks. While Seaton was an excellent fighter, with his stomach growing larger by the hour with eggs, fighting had become rather difficult.

In the late afternoon three days after Bruinen had come home and discovered that Seaton’s season had arrived, it was time for Seaton to disappear into the nest. Seaton made the announcement, “It’s time for me to lay the eggs.”

Bruinen immediately swam over to Seaton. “Is there anything you need from me?”

Seaton shook his head. “Just knowing that you’re going to be out here, protecting us is enough.”

“I will fight to my last breath to defend you.” Bruinen swore.

Seaton bestowed him with a loving smile. “I know.”

He went down the hall to the nest room. Just before he swam into the room, he paused to give Bruinen a kiss goodbye. Bruinen stayed at the entrance to the nest room and watched as Seaton awkwardly swam to the farside of the room where the entrance to the nest was His normally small stomach was hanging below him and swollen with eggs. When he reached the spot where Bruinen had left a hole big enough for Seaton to slip into, he paused for a moment to look back at Bruinen and smile. Then he disappeared into the nest where he would remain for the next several days while he laid the eggs. Depending on how many eggs he produced this season, he could be in the nest anywhere from six to ten days. During which time Seaton would be vulnerable and it would be Bruinen’s job to keep him safe from predators that would attack a laying dam or eat newly lain eggs.

Only once the last egg had been laid, would Bruinen be permitted entrance to the nest to fertilize all of Seaton’s eggs. Then, he and Seaton would take turns guarding the eggs until it was close to time for them to hatch, usually about two weeks after fertilization occurred. When the guppies were close to hatching, he and Seaton would stay with the eggs at all times until the guppies were born and would only take turns leaving to get food.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Bruinen swam out of the house to do a check on the perimeter. He doubted that anyone was near their home. By now, the news would have spread to the rest of their community that he and Seaton were in the process of making guppies. As it was early in the process, the other merfolk would be staying away from their home to allow the two of them privacy during this sacred time. But Bruinen also couldn’t ignore the instinct that demanded he check and make sure. Better his mate and future gups be safe.

He took the time to check every inch of the exterior thoroughly, not just looking for possible intruders, but also looking for any problems in the walls that would need to be taken care of just as soon as Seaton didn’t need continuous guarding.

It took a little over an hour before he was satisfied that the perimeter was secure and that the house had no problems. Bruinen then swam over to the nearby kelp reef and harvested several of the stalks. These were carried into the house and arranged into a makeshift bed on the ground in front of the entrance to the nest room. This was where Bruinen would sleep for the next few days until Seaton was done laying the eggs. The bed he normally shared with Seaton was too far away to satisfy his instincts and much too lonely for Bruinen’s liking.

With his bed arranged comfortably on the ground, Bruinen once more swam back outside. This time it was with the intention of finding something for dinner.

Just to the left of their front door, Bruinen’s keen eyes spotted a school of moonfish slowly making their way out of the city. Not wasting any time, Bruinen gave a powerful flick of his tail and shot after them. He was on them so quickly that the fish never had a chance to sense the approach of a dangerous predator. By the time they realized the danger they were in, Bruinen’s hands had closed around half a dozen of them. While the school scattered, Bruinen gave a quick but careful squeeze to the captured fish. They died immediately from having their spines snapped. He made sure there were no broken bones jutting out from their scales before making his way back home. Along the way, he found some sea snails, which were Seaton’s favorite treat. He added a few of them to his bounty and continued on home.

Back inside the house, Bruinen carefully made his way inside the nest room and over to the rock wall surrounding Seaton. He found the small opening that Seaton had left in order for him to put food through.

“Seaton, it’s me.” Bruinen called. “I’ve brought dinner.”

There was no response, which Bruinen had expected.

One at a time, he pushed four of the fish through the hole. The fish were followed by the snails, which Bruinen had absolutely no desire to eat. Seaton was one of the few merpeople he knew who would eat them. As Bruinen pushed the last snail through the hole, he was momentarily startled by the brush of a hand against his. He quickly recovered in time to grasp Seaton’s hand and give him a comforting squeeze. Then Seaton withdrew his hand and a rock appeared in the hole to block it. Bruinen took the unspoken hint and swam back out of the room to his temporary bed. He settled down on it and ate his own dinner. The bones of the two fish were set aside into a pile. He would get to them tomorrow and grind down any sharp or pointy parts on them. The bones would make excellent first toys for his guppies and they were relatively easy to get. The organs and other internal parts of the fish that were not good for consumption were taken outside and disposed of far away enough from his house that they wouldn’t bring predators to his front door. With that taken care of, Bruinen returned to his bed and settled in for the night.

That night, his dreams were filled with guppies. In one dream, Bruinen was playfully chasing a group of four guppies, who looked like a mixture of him and Seaton. The gups were giggling as they darted in and out of the kelp stalks in the patch. Bruinen slowed to a stop and carefully separated the stalks, calling out for his children. A sudden burst of giggles had Bruinen spinning around to see a pair of dark blue ocean eyes peeking out at him from a tangle of kelp. Smiling, Bruinen untangled the kelp and plucked up his newly revealed son.

“Papa.” The little boy giggled.

“What were you doing in there?” Bruinen asked.

“Hiding from papa.”

In another dream, Bruinen was floating a distance from six guppies and was trying to teach them how to do a loop while swimming.

“Watch papa.” Bruinen called.

He gave a powerful flick of his silver tail and sped towards the gups. When he was in front of them, he arched his back and tilted his head up. His body followed and he did a complete loop. Upon completing the loop, Bruinen came to a stop in front of them.

“Alright. Who wants to go first?”

In a third dream, Bruinen had returned home from work and made his way to the nest room. He swam in through the hole in the far wall and immediately turned to shove a rock into it to stop anyone from trying to get in. When the nest was secure, Bruinen turned to face the open area. Seaton was asleep on a medium sized rock to his left. Three guppies were hanging onto his tail fins as they, too, slept. Directly in front of Bruinen, four guppies were piled on top of each other, sound asleep. He smiled and made his way over to them. As if they sensed his presence, they uncurled from each other in their sleep and latched onto his fins. Bruinen settled down onto the sandy floor and allowed sleep to wash over him.

When Bruinen woke in the morning, he found that he was still smiling. His dreams had left him with hope for the future and a small seed of impatience as a small part of him wished that Seaton was done laying eggs so he could fertilize them and they could begin the two week countdown. But if Seaton was done laying eggs now, then that would mean they would have only one or two eggs and a small chance that they would hatch. It would be best if Seaton was in the nest for several days, no matter how impatient Bruinen was.

Pushing the dreams out of his mind, Bruinen swam outside to do a perimeter check and then hunt for breakfast.

For two days, Bruinen followed the same routine. Perimeter checks and hunting for food brought him outside every few hours. The rest of his time was spent on guard outside the nest room. Bruinen passed the slow hours by meticulously grinding down the fish bones he collected from his and Seaton’s meals. Bruinen was determined that each and every single bone would be absolutely perfect. He wasn’t going to take a chance that one of his guppies could accidentally hurt themselves or one of their siblings on a sliver of sharp bone. No, every bone would be perfectly smooth and shiny. Seaton helped by separating the bones and inedible parts of the fish into two piles when he shoved them back outside of the nest. While the piles were messy, the bones themselves were cleaned of blood and fish guts. Which eliminated one of Bruinen’s tasks.

On the third day, things changed. It was just after Bruinen had delivered Seaton his noon time meal and had settled down to eat his own when all of his senses tingled. Bruinen immediately abandoned his meal and swam outside to see what caused his instincts to scream in alarm.    
  


He did several laps around the house, trying to pinpoint the cause, but saw nothing. On his fourth lap, something made Bruinen stop and turn to look in the direction of the kelp patch. For several minutes, he stared at it, wondering what had caused him to stop. Nothing happened and eventually Bruinen decided that there was nothing there. Maybe he had seen a school of fish swimming through the stalks and his instincts had him thinking it was a threat.

He had just turned around to continue his search of the perimeter when something slammed into him from behind. Bruinen immediately twisted himself to avoid having his arms pinned to his sides. The move also had the advantage of letting him see what he was fighting against. What he saw shocked him, and though he would never admit it, scared him.

His attacker was a terrifying looking merman. The merman’s eyes were a bright red that had never before been seen by a merfolk. His upper body was riddled with scars and in some places, it appeared as if chunks of flesh were missing. The scales on his tail were a dull red color and many of them were missing. The merman’s mouth was bared in a fierce snarl, revealing that his fang teeth were dripping. His hair was cliff brown and Bruinen swore that he could see things moving in the strands.

Despite how scared he was, Bruinen wasted no time in using his weight to his advantage and twisting around in the merman’s grip. He pinned one of the merman’s arms behind his back. The merman thrashed violently and Bruinen struggled to hold him. The fight only lasted for a few minutes before Bruinen suddenly let go and drew one of the still sharp bones from a pouch he kept around his waist. Bruinen drove the bone through the merman’s back and into his heart. 

The merman collapsed onto the ground and looked up at him.

“It doesn’t matter.” He rasped, teeth bared. “Your mate is already dead.”

Heart thudding in his chest, Bruinen spun around and swam as fast as he could for the house. The front room of the house showed no evidence of strangers entering but that didn’t reassure Bruinen. He swam down the hall towards the nest room. He didn’t get very far before jerking to a sudden stop. There, in the middle of his hallway, were Thames, Neri, and Cari and an unknown merman. Thames and Cari had pinned the merman to the ground on his back by his arms and tail. Nerissa was sitting on his chest with a bone knife poised above his heart. His three friends had looked up at the sound of his frantic approach.

“Good afternoon, Bruinen.” Nerissa greeted pleasantly, as if she had just stopped in for an afternoon visit.

“What…?” was the only thing Bruinen could manage to say.

“We were on our way out to the coral field to get some things Thames needed. When we passed by your house and saw this creature entering, we decided to follow, just to make sure that you were okay, since we didn’t see you come rushing out to deal with him.” Cari explained.

“We caught up with him in the hall and there was no sight of you anywhere. So we tackled him and quickly got him pinned down. He tried to fight back, but when Neri pulled out her knife, he quickly stopped. And we’ve kept him here until you returned.” Thames finished.

Bruinen was having trouble focusing. His instincts were going crazy because there were to many people near his vulnerable mate and they were all threats. His mind was insisting that only the unknown merman was a threat. It was several minutes before he was able to pull himself together enough to speak.

“He wasn’t alone. His buddy rushed me outside and we fought. I had the upper hand but there was a moment in which I thought I was going to lose it. I barely managed to pull out a piece of bone and stab him. As he died, he told me that I was too late.

His friends smiled in sympathy.

“What do you want us to do with him, Bruinen?” Nerissa asked.

Bruinen was torn. A large part of him wanted to be the one to kill this intruder, in the slowest possible manner. Another, equally large part wanted to check on Seaton and make sure he wasn’t in distress. The two parts battled it out inside his mind until one of them finally won out.

“Kill him. As far away from here as possible. I don’t want his corpse bringing predators to my house.” Bruinen decided.

Neri, Cari and Thames nodded. With Neri keeping her knife close and ready to strike at a moment’s notice, Cari and Thames hauled the merman up and escorted him from the house. Nerissa followed close behind.

As soon as they were out of sight, Bruinen spun around and darted into the nest room, coming to a stop next to where he gave Seaton his food.

“Seaton, are you okay? Are you in distress?” Bruinen called.

Several, long heartstopping moments passed before Bruinen received an answer.

“I’m okay.” Seaton said and Bruinen exhaled a sigh of relief. “I was worried for a moment when I sensed an unknown presence enter the house and I couldn’t sense you anywhere nearby. But then our friends showed up and took control of the situation until you returned and I was able to relax again.

“As long as you and our eggs are okay.” Bruinen said

“We’re fine.” Seaton promised. “Go back to guarding us Bruinen.”

Bruinen was reluctant to leave, but he knew that it was only his presence guarding Seaton that allowed his mate to relax enough to lay their eggs. He left and immediately went outside to secure the perimeter.

Exactly eight and a half days after Seaton had first entered into the nest, he finally emerged. Bruinen had been finishing grinding down the last bone from their breakfast that morning when he sensed his mate’s approach. Before he could turn to see, Seaton was in front of him, back to his original small size now that his stomach was no longer heavy and round with eggs. Part of Bruinen missed seeing his mate swollen with their eggs but it was overridden by a larger part of him that was ecstatic to have Seaton back in his arms.

Bruinen’s arms had moved without his conscious decision and pulled Seaton in close to him. Seaton came willingly and tucked his head under Bruinen’s chin, his tail curling over Bruinen’s tail. For at least ten minutes, they remained snuggled together. As usual, Seaton was the one who pulled back and rested his forehead against Bruinen’s.

“I missed you.” Bruinen breathed.

“I missed you more.” Seaton said. “Come and see the eggs.”

Those words halted any further comments Bruinen might have wished to make. He eagerly followed Seaton into the room and over to the entrance to the actual nest. Seaton slipped in through the hole first and Bruinen followed him. Once they were in, Seaton picked up the rock that had kept the entrance blocked while he was laying the eggs. Bruinen kept his eyes on Seaton, afraid to turn around and see the eggs.

Seaton gave him a gentle, understanding smile. “It’s okay, Bruinen. You can look.”

Slowly, Bruinen turned around. The first thing his eyes registered was the small circle of rocks in the middle of the nest. In the center of the circle were several gray eggs. Bruinen cautiously swam over, taking care not to disturb the water too much in fear of damaging the eggs. He carefully counted the number of eggs and when he finished, counted again just to be sure he hadn’t miscounted.

Seventeen.

There were seventeen eggs in the circle. Seaton had laid seventeen eggs during the time he was in here.

Shocked, Bruinen turned to face Seaton. Seaton was wearing a proud smile as he met Bruinen’s eyes. 

“Seventeen.” Bruinen said.

Seaton nodded.

“We’re going to have seventeen guppies.”

“Well, maybe.” Seaton cautioned. “If everything goes well, and all of the eggs are fertilized, and nothing happens between now and when they hatch, we might have seventeen.”

“We’ll have seventeen.” Bruinen predicted. “We’re both healthy, so there’s no reason why I wouldn’t be able to fertilize all of the eggs and have it take. And between the two of us, we can keep them safe for the next few weeks until they hatch.”

Seaton fondly shook his head. “Well, in order for us to have seventeen guppies, you have to get busy and fertilize all of the eggs. And make sure you get all of them covered good. If we want all of them to hatch, they need the best chance possible of getting fertilized.

Bruinen caught Seaton around the waist. “Are you going to help me with that, my little starfish?”

Seaton looked at him, startled. “Me? How can I help you with that?”

“You could stay here while I pleasure myself to the sight of you and your body.” Bruinen suggested. “Or you could actively help me with the process.”

Seaton’s eyes darkened at the thought of helping Bruinen with the process of fertilizing their eggs.

“Yeah?” He breathed. “How could I help you?”

“You could touch me while I bring myself off. Give me more pleasure than I could give myself alone. The more pleasure I experience, the more essence I will produce. And the more essence I produce, the easier it will be to fertilize our eggs.”

“I want to help you.” Seaton decided.

He gently tackled Bruinen, careful not to disturb their eggs. One of Seaton’s hands went to Bruinen’s hair to hold him in place while he kissed him. The other hand slid down Bruinen’s tail and found the opening that housed Bruinen’s cock.

Seaton’s fingers teased at his cock, slowly drawing it out as it hardened. When Bruinen’s cock was fully erect, Seaton switched to stroking his fingers lightly along the hard organ. Without warning, his grip became firm, squeezing Bruinen’s cock with just the slightest bit of pressure. If it hadn’t been for Seaton’s hand in his hair, Bruinen would have pulled back from Seaton. As it was, he was forced to stay where he was. Not having any other options, Bruinen thrashed in place as Seaton stroked along his cock, maintaining the slight pressure.

Seaton leaned in close. “I want you to come Bruinen. Let go of that tight control you always maintain and let your essence flow from your body. Fertilize our eggs with your essence so we can have guppies.”

Seaton’s words pushed Bruinen over the edge and he came with a cry. Without him realizing it, Seaton had somehow maneuvered them so that they were floating in the water above the circle of eggs. When Bruinen’s orgasm had washed over him and his life-creating essence began to flow from his body, Seaton moved back so that Bruinen’s essence could fall on their eggs. He gently flicked his tail in order to stir up the water and spread Bruinen’s release on all of the eggs.

When Bruinen’s orgasm was done and he could focus once more, he found Seaton next to him, holding him up with an arm wrapped around his waist and his face buried in Bruinen’s neck.

“Welcome back. You’ve started to fertilize our future children.” Seaton said. “But you’re not done. It will take a few more orgasms before all of the eggs are completely covered in your release and fertilization can begin.”

Bruinen just groaned as Seaton once more began to play with his cock. If it hadn’t been for the fact that this was all for their future children, Bruinen would have asked Seaton to give him a few minutes to recover.

**OoO**

The day after fertilizing all of the eggs, Bruinen finally returned to work. He hadn’t wanted to go, but Seaton had insisted. He said that Bruinen needed to help his crew with as many of the jobs as possible before taking his mandatory two seasons of leave to help raise his guppies during the most crucial part of their lives. After a few hours of the discussion going around in circles, Bruinen finally agreed to return to work for a few days. Seaton had made a very good point when he said it wasn’t fair for Bruinen to just up and leave his team to do all of the work without at least telling them face to face why he was going to be absent.

The moment he swam into work, Bruinen was surrounded by his crew.

“Bruinen! Is everything okay?”Morcant asked.

“All the boss would tell us is that you had to take some time to be with Seaton.” added Gar.

“Seaton’s season hit.” was all Bruinen said.

“And?” Duxor demanded a bit impatiently.

“We decided that we were ready to have guppies. So I stayed home to guard him. We had a rogue merman who attacked me while another rogue tried to get at Seaton.”

“Bleeding coral.” Deniz swore. “Is Seaton okay?”

“He’s fine. Some friends happened to be passing by and they took care of the second rogue while I dealt with the first.”

Bruinen could see that his friends wanted to ask questions, but refrained. He was grateful. He didn’t like thinking about how Seaton was nearly attacked and liked talking about it even less.

“So how many eggs are you expecting?” Duxor asked in an obvious attempt to change the subject.

Bruinen flashed a quick smile at his friend. “Seventeen.” He stated, eyes glowing a little bit brighter.

His friends all offered congratulations. While a mer could lay up to 20 eggs in a single season, the average was fourteen to fifteen eggs. Seaton laying seventeen eggs was a cause for celebration.

“Congratulations Bruinen. How long do we have you for?” Morcant asked.

“Eight more sunrises. Then I will stay home with Seaton to guard the eggs. I wanted to stay home now, but Seaton insisted that I come back to work for a few days. He said that I should work while I can and help you complete as many jobs as possible so you wouldn’t be left with a large load. He also wants some time alone with the eggs.”

Deniz nodded in approval. “That’s good. It means he wants to bond with his future guppies. The more he bonds with them now, the better your chances of all the eggs hatching and the gups being born healthy and strong.”

“Of course, it’s important for you to bond with your eggs as well. You want them to recognize you as their sire.” Duxor chimed in. “If they don’t recognize you as their sire, they could form an attachment and bond with another mer out of an instinctual need to have two parents.”

Both Duxor and Deniz knew what they were talking about. Between the two of them, they had twenty-eight guppies. But Duxor’s comment, while probably intended to be well-meaning, only served to stir up anxiety in Bruinen.

“How do I bond with them?”

“Right now, just talk to them and guard them. Once they hatch, they’ll instinctively want to bond with you.” was Deniz’s calm advice.

Bruinen breathed in deeply, trying to calm his thundering heart.

“Why don’t we take advantage of the time we have you for and get some work done?” Gar suggested.

Bruinen nodded and led his team out of the building. Work was exactly what he needed in order to distract his brain from the potentially crippling anxiety he was experiencing. WIth his job, he could take his anxiety and funnel it into making sure his work was better than his best.

For the next eight sunrises, Bruinen and his team worked hard to complete as many of the jobs they had been assigned as they could. Their most important job was that of fixing the community safety center. The center was where the young, the old, and parents caring for a clutch of eggs went in the event of an attack. The able-bodied mers took up a guard position outside of the main room. The official guards would set up outside the center as the first line of defense. The two back to back tsunamis during the cold season had caused considerable damage to the center. The damage was bad enough that it took Bruinen and his team four sunrises to complete. With half of his work time spent on one job, Bruinen decided to shift the focus to smaller jobs that would be quick and easy to complete.

In the remaining four sunrises, they managed to complete five jobs. All in all, Bruinen was feeling rather proud of himself and his team. None of the other teams could claim to have done as much work in the last eight sunrises as his team had.

As they approached quitting time on the eighth day, Bruinen’s friends crowded around him.

“We’re going to miss you, Bruinen.” Gar said. “You’ll have to invite us over after the gups hatch so we can meet the newest members of your clan. And by extension, our clan as well.”

“Of course.” Bruinen promised. “As soon as the bonding period is over, you’ll be the first after my parents and siblings to meet them.”

His friends wished him luck and he quickly swam home. Having to leave the house each day in order to go to work had been the most difficult thing Bruinen had ever had to do. Each day he was away from his eggs and his mate had been a constant battle with his instincts, which wanted him to stay home. But now he had the rest of the warm season and part of the cold season off. He and Seaton only had a few more days before they could start checking their eggs for signs that the guppies were hatching.

Reaching his house, Bruinen swam inside and called out to let Seaton know that he was home.

There was no answer.

“Seaton.” Bruinen called again, a little more desperately.

Silence was his only answer.

Fearing the worst, that another rogue mer had slipped into his house and this time succeeded in killing his mate, Bruinen desperately swam for the nest room.

There were no signs of disturbance and the barrier stone was still blocking the entrance into the nest. That did little to ease Bruinen’s fears. He carefully removed the stone and entered the nest.    
  


There, he found Seaton lying on his back next to the eggs, one hand resting on his stomach. A small hint of blood outlined his mouth.

Bruinen sucked in a breath and for one heart-stopping moment, thought that Seaton was dead.

Then, Seaton gave a quiet grunt and rolled over onto his side. Bruinen let out his breath. Seaton wasn’t dead, merely asleep.

A closer look revealed the source of the blood. A small pile of bones and another of guts showed that Seaton had eaten recently, and then probably fallen straight to sleep without disposing of the guts. Hence the blood around his mouth.

Now that his heartbeat had settled back into a normal rhythm, Bruinen was able to think logically. The first thing he did was check on the eggs and see if any of them needed to be moved back to the central nest. With it being so close to the day that the guppies would hatch, they were constantly turning over in their shells. They had very little room to move and every time they turned over, they scooted away from the central nest in the ground where they were nestled.

Four of the eggs had moved and he tenderly picked each one up and settled it back among its siblings. Then he scooped up the pile of guts and organs and carried them out of the nest and house to be disposed of. Bruinen wasn’t going to take any chances of a predator trying to get into their house because of the scent of blood.

With all of that done, he was finally able to relax and realized just how tired he was. Swimming back into the nest, he put the barrier rock into the wall and turned to face his mate. Seaton was still in the same position he had rolled over into and as sound asleep as he had been when Bruinen arrived home.

With a gentle flick of his tail, Bruinen had crossed to the center of the nest and was settling down next to Seaton. He wrapped an arm around his mate’s middle and in moments, was sound asleep himself.

In the days following his leave from work, Bruinen only left the nest for two reasons.The primary reason was that it was his turn to hunt for food for him and Seaton. A task that he did quickly so he could return to his mate and their clutch. He was fighting a constant battle with his instincts every time he left. Half of him wanted to provide for his mate. The other half insisted that he needed to stay with his mate and clutch to protect them from any possible threats. It wasn’t unreasonable considering they had already faced one threat. 

The second reason was because he had received a message from a messenger this morning saying that Nerissa wanted to see him. Neri knew that it was close to time for their clutch to hatch and would only ask him to leave the nest if it was important. 

Curious and more than a little impatient, he swam directly to Neri’s shop.

“Nerissa?” He called as he entered.

“I’ll be out in a minute.” Neri’s voice called from the back.

Less than a minute later she emerged from the back with a small bag. “This is for you.” She said, handing him the bag.

“What’s in it?”

“Why don’t you open it and see?”

Bruinen opened it and pulled out a handful of woven bracelets. “What…?” He began in confusion, trying to place the familiar looking bracelets.

“Identity bracelets.” was all Neri said.

Immediately Bruinen’s mind flashed back to the simple leather bracelets he had worn when he was a guppy. His sisters had worn them as well. The bracelets had given their name and identified their parents. Just in case they had become separated. Most parents would order them once they knew how many guppies they were expecting. Bruinen had been so consumed with getting his work done quickly so he could return home to his mate that he had never considered what his children would need after they hatched.

He looked up at Nerissa. “I figured you were distracted by everything and you would have forgotten about it. So I took the liberty of making some for you.”

“Thanks.” Bruinen said. “It would have been rather awkward after the guppies hatched and we realized that we didn’t have any of the bracelets.”

Nerissa gave him a small half smile. “It would have been a challenge.” She agreed. “Now, why don’t you take those and head back home to Seaton. Let me know when I can come and visit.”

“I will.” Bruinen promised before going back home.    
  


Seaton was surprised and pleased by Neri’s gift.

“These will withstand a lot.” He remarked as he examined a handful of the bracelets.

“You doubt Nerissa’s ability?” Bruinen asked with a teasing smile.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Seaton scoffed. “Only a fool would doubt her. I was just appreciating the craftsmanship.”

“Much better.”

“Listen here barnacle brain,” Seaton began only to be interrupted by Bruinen pulling him close.

“What, my little sea slug?”

Seaton gazed up at his mate. “I love you.” He said.

“And I love you. Till the end of the ocean.”

“Till the end of the ocean.” Seaton echoed

The next morning, Bruinen was woken by Seaton’s tail flicking him in the face. “Bruinen, wake up. They’re hatching.”

Those five words were all it took to jolt Bruinen awake. Between one heartbeat and the next, he flipped himself upright and was next to Seaton. Seaton was watching a small group of eggs on the left side of the nest. Every few heartbeats, one of the eggs would vibrate, indicating that the guppy inside was working on breaking out of its shell. Bruinen shared an excited smile with Seaton before a cracking sound drew their attention back to the hatching eggs.

A small hand was poking out of one of the eggs and a silver tail peeked out of another egg. Seaton moved to help the guppy whose arm was out while Bruinen helped the other. Carefully, Steaton used his fingers to create more cracks in the shell so he could pull it apart. He gently pried apart the pieces to reveal his child.

The guppy was a little girl with his sandy hair, ocean blue eyes and tail. His daughter looked up at him for a moment before raising her arms. Seaton picked her up and nestled her in his arms before turning to look for Bruinen,who was holding a boy who also had Seaton’s sandy hair, but Bruinen’s dark ocean eyes and silver tail.

“We’re officially parents, Seaton.” Bruinen said with a proud grin.

“We are.” Was all Seaton had time to say. He had intended to say more, but the sound of another egg cracking drew their attention.

They quickly set their guppies down on the ground and went to help their other guppies hatch. Time passed by unnoticed and the water had been dark for several hours by the time Seaton and Bruinen were waiting on their last guppy to hatch. After a few hours had passed, with the sun close to rising, they began to wonder if the last egg was going to hatch, or if the guppy inside had not survived. Of all the eggs, this one was the smallest. It had only grown a little since Seaton had laid it over a moon ago.

Just when they had given up hope, the egg cracked the tiniest bit. When nothing else happened, Seaton made the decision to intervene. He plunged two fingers into the crack and carefully pulled it apart. The guppy inside, a little boy, was still tightly curled up with his pale silver tail flicking randomly. Seaton gently picked up his son, brushing a piece of shell off his head. Once in Seaton’s arms, his son uncurled and looked up at him.

Seaton inhaled sharply. His son had two different eye colors. The left eye was Bruinen’s night ocean color and the right was Seaton’s day ocean color. Around both eyes was a ring of light silver.

“Seaton, what is it?” Bruinen asked, floating just behind his mate and trying to peer over his shoulder.

Seaton spun around so quickly that the force of the water swirling pushed Bruinen back slightly. Bruinen immediately recovered and propelled himself in front of Seaton to look at his last guppy. He too gasped when he saw his son’s unusual eyes.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before. What do you think it means?” He asked quietly.

Seaton shook his head. “I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see as he gets older.”

They continued to stare until their son wiggled out of Seaton’s grasp and awkwardly swam over to join his brothers and sisters who were asleep in a pile on the ground. He curled up on top of his siblings and immediately fell asleep. Bruinen and Seaton exchanged glances, more than a little confused by their youngest’s behavior. Deciding to worry about it later, they curled up together near the guppy pile and fell asleep.

The next week was spent bonding with their guppies and deciding on the appropriate name for each one. When the bonding period was over, they sent out messages inviting their family and friends to come and meet the newest members of the clan. Seaton’s mom Styx and Bruinen’s parents Wynnifred and Gal were the first to come. Bruinen met them at the entrance to assure himself that there was no threat to his family. Satisfying himself that there was no threat, he led them to the nest.

Seaton was swimming circles at a moderate pace while six guppies followed him, doing everything they could to copy their mother.

“Ma!” Seaton cried upon seeing his mother. With a powerful flick of his tail, he swam directly over to her. Styx already had her arms out to catch her only surviving guppy. Seaton’s guppies had stopped the games they were playing to stare curiously at the newcomers.

“Mother, father, these are your grandgups.” Bruinen announced proudly. “Gups, these are your grandmers.” Seaton added.

Their youngest Hali was the first to find his courage and meet his grandmers. He swam slowly but directly to Styx and held his arms up. Styx immediately picked him up.

“He’s such a cute little boy, Seaton.” She gushed.

“Did you lose any?” asked Gal.

  
Bruinen shook his head. “We thought we might have lost Hali. He needed a little help hatching after he made the initial start. But he proved to be strong and is following his brothers and sisters in everything.”

“That’s wonderful.” Wynnifred said. “Will you introduce us?”

“Sure. Come over here.” Seaton beckoned.

The three grandmers, and Hali who was still being cuddled by Styx, followed him over to the guppy group. Seaton pointed to a boy and a girl at the back. “That’s Jafar and Sokanon, our first borns. The girl next to Jafar is Harlimeda.” Seaton went around the group, introducing each guppy to their grandmers. “And this is Harli, our youngest.” He finished, gesturing to the little boy who was content to stay in Styx’s arms.

“They’re good, strong guppies.” Gal praised, three of them hanging off his arm. The guppies had decided that their grandmers were okay and had swarmed them immediately after following the introductions.

Seaton and Bruinen beamed proudly

Styx, Gal, and Wynnifred stayed until it was starting to get dark. By that point, the guppies were starting to make sounds to indicate that they were hungry. Seaton kept glancing towards the entrance, debating if he should stay here and continue to be a good host, or if he should go and hunt food for his children.

Styx solved the problem for him. “I think it’s time for us to be going. You need to hunt for your children and we still have a ways to go until we get home.

Seaton wrapped her up in a strong hug. She patted his back. “You’ve done well, Seaton. You’ve finally proven what I’ve known all along. That you are strong. You laid seventeen healthy eggs and kept them safe until they were ready to hatch. You’ve done what I failed to do all those seasons ago.”

“I don’t blame you, Ma. And neither do they.” Seaton said into her hair.

Styx gave him a sad smile and swam out of the nest to join Gal and Wynnifred. Bruinen immediately began settling the guppies down for the night while Seaton grabbed the net they now used for hunting. He followed his ma out of the house and turned to go left while they went right. He was lucky to find a large colony of silver trout just outside the boundaries of the mercolony. He had them caught up in the net and closed the ends together before the colony had time to scatter too far. Unconsciously changing his breathing so that his new heavy load didn’t affect his ability to swim, Seaton lugged the catch home.

Inside the nest, he found all of his children settled down into a pile on top of each other. He had to smile as he realized they were once again in the same formation that they were the day they all hatched. Apparently, they had a preference for it.

Smelling the trout that Seaton had brought back, the guppies began making their hunger noises again. Bruinen came over and helped him pass out the fish. The guppies tore into the flesh with eagerness that belied their age and inexperience. Because they were only a few sunrises old, they only ate one fish before sleep began to call to them. They let the guts, organs, and bones drop to the ground before one by one turning to curl into each other. Within moments, they were sound asleep.

Seaton and Bruinen shared an amused glance before cleaning up the mess. Bruinen took the discarded parts out to dispose of them where predators wouldn’t find their family. When he returned, he found Seaton already curled up and almost asleep. He settled down behind his mate.

“I’m glad we didn’t lose any of them.” Seaton mumbled. “It would have been really lonely if only one or two of them had survived.”

“It would have been.” Bruinen acknowledged. “And we would have dealt with it as best as we could have. But Posiedon in his mercy has seen best not to grant us that fate. We shall not have to worry about it. Not unless you decide that you would like to have another clutch.”

“Not now.” Seaton said, voice thick with sleep.

Bruinen huffed a quiet laugh. “No, not now. Let’s wait until this clutch is a few seasons old perhaps. And able to look after themselves more.”

There was no answer from Seaton. He had finally given in to his exhaustion and was sound asleep. Bruinen let out another huff that could have been a laugh before he too allowed sleep to claim him.

The next morning, Bruinen was awoken by a tail flicking him in the face. Cracking one eye open, he saw his oldest daughter Sokanon floating just inches away from his face. Only the fact that she was his daughter kept Bruinen from either flinching back or accidentally striking her in the face. He had never been a fan of people sneaking up too close to him without his being aware of them.

Upon seeing that her father was awake, Sokanon let out a happy gurgle and held her arms out to him. Bruinen sat up and pulled her into his arms. She settled down against his chest, her head tucked against the crook of his neck. The gurgle she gave him was one of contentment and Bruinen couldn’t stop himself from allowing a pleased smirk to cross his face as he used his tail to propel the two of them into an upright position. The moment they were upright, Seaton came swimming over to them.

“Sokanon, I told you to let papa sleep.” He scolded.

  
Their daughter didn’t answer, nor did she look up from her papa.

“She’s fine, sea slug. I don’t mind being woken by our children. I’d rather they wake me constantly for little things than let me sleep when I could help them with something major.”

“Still, you need your sleep.” Seaton protested.

“As do you.” Bruinen countered, shifting his daughter to one arm so he could pull Seaton closer. “I noticed that it doesn’t stop you from rising with the sun everyday to care for them while leaving me to sleep.”

“I can’t help it. I don’t sleep as deeply as I used to. The slightest shift in the water wakes me and I think that something is wrong. So when all of them start waking, I’m awake immediately. And you look so peaceful sleeping that I can’t bring myself to wake you. Not until I have to.”

“You should wake me.” Bruinen admonished gently. “I want to be awake to help you with our clutch.”

Seaton’s mouth twitched into a half smile. “We’ll see if you’re still singing the same tune tomorrow when I let the guppies wake you as they want to.”

Bruinen only laughed as he allowed Seaton to go back to the guppies who had finished breakfast. Sokanon wasn’t showing any signs of wanting her father to put her down, so he adjusted her in his arms and swam over to where the net of food was lying on the ground. Most of the fish were small enough for the guppies to each be able to eat a whole one on their own. But there were a few larger fish for him and Seaton.

He snagged two of them. One was left on the ground while he ate the second. Sokanon looked up in interest as he ate and when he picked up the second fish, reached out towards it with one hand.

“You can’t have my breakfast.” Bruinen laughed. “I know your mama has already made sure you ate.”

“Indeed I did.” Seaton confirmed, glancing over to where his mate was sitting as he tried to eat while preventing their daughter from stealing his food.

“What are your plans for today?”

“I thought I’d take them out and work with them on their swimming skills. Teach them how to turn more easily.”

“And let them play hide and seek?” Seaton finished.

Bruinen snorted. “Of course. I would have a very angry clutch if I didn’t let them play hide and seek.”

“You would.” Seaton agreed.

Giving his mate a quick peck, Bruinen rounded up his children and herded them out of the nest. They quickly became excited when they realized that he was taking them outside, but the looks he received when he told them that they weren’t playing hide and seek just yet had him smothering a laugh.

He spent the morning teaching them how to use their tail fins to turn smoothly while swimming in the water. Harli was the first to pick up on it. His brothers and sisters were quick to follow, not wanting to be outdone at anything by their youngest sibling. Since he was getting pleading looks from them, Bruinen relented and allowed them to go and play hide and seek in the nearby kelp forest. His children had become obsessed with hide and seek ever since he and Seaton had taught them how to play a few days after they were born.

He leisurely swam forward, enjoying watching as the guppies hid themselves among the gently waving stalks. Sokanon darted among the kelp, looking for her brothers and sisters. A shriek followed by giggles announced each time she located one of them. When she had found all of her siblings, they traded off. Sokanon joined the group that was hiding while one of her younger brothers took her place as the seeker. 

“Bruinen.” A voice called from behind.

Recognizing the voice, he turned and saw Seaton slowly swimming up behind him, dragging a net full of fish. He met Seaton halfway and took one side of the net.

“When did you sneak out to go hunting?” He asked.

“While you were distracted with teaching the gups how to to turn while swimming.” Seaton answered.

  
Bruinen shook his head. “Crafty little sea slug.”

Seaton gave him a grin that promised things for later. “Help me get this into the nest room. Then I’ll come back out and round up the gups while you get started on scaling them.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Together, they dragged the net of fish into the nest room and dropped it onto the ground. Bruinen got started scaling the fish while Seaton went back outside. For a few minutes, everything was normal. Everything changed when he heard Seaton urgently calling him from outside. Dropping the fish he was scaling, Bruinen quickly swam outside. There, he found Seaton floating next to the kelp forest. Bruinen came to a stop next to him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Where are the guppies?”

Bruinen gave Seaton a concerned look. “They were playing hide and seek here in the kelp forest.”

“That’s what I thought.” Seaton said. “I came out here to round them up. When I didn’t immediately see or hear them, I thought that they were hiding from me in the kelp and were waiting for me to find them. I swam through the entire forest and I haven’t found any of them.”

Bruinen could feel panic beginning to claw its way up his throat. He forced it back down and managed to speak in a calm voice. “Let’s not panic just yet. We’ll check the entire kelp forest again as well as a few other hiding places where they might have gone if they had gotten bored with hiding in the forest.”

Seaton took a deep breath. “You’re right. If they’re not here in the kelp forest, then they are probably hiding nearby because they got bored with it. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to give them a very long lecture about scaring me.”

Bruinen forced a chuckle. “I would expect nothing less from you.”

They slowly swam through the kelp forest, checking behind each individual stalk and calling for their children. Their search efforts turned up nothing. The guppies were not hiding in the forest. Forcing down the worry, Bruinen led the way over to the large rock pile. The pile was a storage place for the colony. Any large rocks that were not needed for building or other purposes were brought here. If a merperson needed a large rock for any reason, they could come here to the pile and take as many rocks as they needed. Because the rocks were not all the same size and shape, there were numerous small crevices hidden from sight unless you were swimming right in front of them. Because of their small size, the crevices were often home to small ocean creatures such as sea slugs, small fish, and other various creatures. The crevices were also the right size for young guppies to hide in. Because they lived so near to the pile, their clutch had often come over here to play hide and seek when they got bored with the kelp forest.

Luck was on their side and they could hear the giggles of their children as they approached the rock pile. A flash of red caught Bruinen’s attention and he looked up just in time to see his youngest daughter disappear over the top of the pile. Clearly, she was the seeker for this round of hide and seek.

“I just saw Oshiera go over the top of the rocks.” Bruinen stated as he came to a stop.

“I can see Orta hiding in one of the crevices from here.” Seaton said, stopping next to his husband.

Soft giggle floated to them on the ripples of the water. Despite his initial worry, Bruinen found himself smiling at the sound. Whenever his guppies laughed, or even smiled, he couldn’t help but smile himself.. His own mother had informed him that it came with the territory of being a parent. No matter how bad things got, seeing his children happy would never fail to make him happy. A glance at Seaton told him that his mate felt the same way.

The giggles suddenly stopped and Bruinen’s head snapped back to the rock pile. His heart calmed when he saw that all of his children were floating in front of the rocks looking at their parents. Bruinen would later not be able to recall what tipped him off, only that he had an inkling that something was about to happen. His inkling would be immediately proven correct as all seventeen guppies immediately swam straight for their parents. Bruinen was bombarded by eight of them while Seaton was attacked by the remaining nine.

Everything became a tangle of limbs and tails for a few minutes. Eventually, they got themselves straightened out.

“Alright. You’ve had your fun playing hide and seek. Now it’s time to go home so you can have your supper before going to sleep.” Seaton ordered.

Several of the guppies pouted but made no move to protest as Seaton and Bruinen herded them towards the house. Seaton was in the lead as they rounded the corner and Bruinen could see the moment when he stopped moving. Worried that something was wrong, he sped up until he was next to his mate. Then he was able to see what had brought Seaton to a halt.

Waiting outside their front entrance was a messenger. The gold arm plates, the colorful beads in her hair and the wicked looking trident she carried indicated that she was no ordinary messenger.

“Are you Seaton and Bruinen?” She asked.

They both nodded.

“I am Orabelle, a member of Her Majesty Naida’s personal guard. I come bearing a message and a request from her Majesty.”

“Her Majesty has a message and a request for us?” Seaton asked in disbelief.

Orabelle nodded. “Indeed. Would you like to hear it?”

Seaton looked at Bruinen and he gave him an encouraging look. Her Majesty had sent a member of her own personal guard to deliver a message and request to them. It wasn’t really something they could deny hearing.

Seaton turned back to the guard. “Please. Tell us what Her Majesty wishes us to know.”

“Her Majesty Naida understands that you have recently become the parents of a large clutch of guppies and wishes first to convey her congratulations and well wishes for you and your children. She hopes that Posiedon will grant you good fortune and good health. Her Majesty’s request is this. She requests that you Seaton and you Bruinen bring your clutch of children to the palace so that she may meet them and you.”

Bruinen stared at her in shock. “Her Royal Majesty wishes us to bring our children to meet her?”

Orabelle nodded. “That is correct.”

“How are we supposed to get all seventeen children to the palace. They are improving greatly in their swimming abilities, but they are nowhere near ready to attempt a long swim to the palace.”

“Her Majesty will send two carriages to bring all of you to the palace.”

“When does Her Majesty want us there?”

“She prefers either tomorrow or the day after. Whichever is more convenient for you.”

Seaton and Bruinen had a quick, but silent conversation. The guppies milled around them, wondering why their parents were not going inside to feed them. A few minutes later Seaton and Bruinen turned back to Orabelle.

“Tell Her Majesty that we can come tomorrow.” Seaton answered.

“As you wish.” Orabelle answered. “Two carriages shall be here in the morning to pick you up and take you to the palace. Do you have any other questions for me?”

Seaton shook his head. “No. I think we’re good.”

Orabelle nodded. “Then I shall see you at the palace.”

She turned and swam off. As soon as she was out of sight, Seaton resumed herding their children into the house and into the nest. Bruinen could tell that he was determined to get the children fed and settled down before they discussed what had just happened.

It took a little longer than usual to settle the guppies down. They had been excited by the visit from their unusual visitor and didn’t want to go to sleep. He and Seaton ended up having to sing them a few lullabies before all of them gave into sleep.

Once the last pair of eyes had closed, Seaton turned to Bruinen.

“I didn’t hallucinate that, did I?” He asked.

Bruinen shook his head. “If you imagined it, then all of us shared in your hallucination. Because I certainly saw the member of the Queen’s guard waiting for us outside the house. And the guppies certainly saw her. You saw how excited they were,refusing to go to sleep.”

Seaton let out a breath. “Yeah I did. So it was definitely real. A member of the Queen’s personal guard came here to deliver a message to us from the Queen herself. And to request on the Queen’s behalf that we visit her at the palace tomorrow with our children. And notified us that the Queen is gracious enough send two carriages to help us get the children to said palace.”

Bruinen nodded. “That sums it up.”

“The question is why? Why has the Queen, of all the mers in the ocean, taken a sudden interest in our family? And now, of all times?”

“I don’t have the answers to any of those questions. The only way we’ll get those answers is by going to the palace tomorrow. And if we want to be able to pay attention and deal with the guppies, we should probably get some sleep.”

“You’re probably right.” Seaton agreed.

They settled down in their usual dip in the floor near the guppy pile. Despite the anxiety rolling around in his brain, Bruinen found sleep claiming him rather quickly.

The next morning, the carriages arrived less than an hour after sunrise. Seaton had gotten the guppies up shortly before the sun rose in order to make sure that they were not only fed, but looked presentable as well. Since the guppies were only one moon old, they didn’t have any of the adornments for their hair, necks, arms, or tails that mers usually wore for formal occasions. Seaton and Bruinen had adorned themselves with formal, yet casual jewelry. Even though they were meeting the Queen, they didn’t know the exact nature of the visit. There was always a strong possibility that today’s meeting would be of a more casual nature. An unspoken rule of formal occasions was that if you didn’t know if it would be formal or not, it was better to choose adornments of a more casual nature.

As soon as the carriages came to a stop, Seaton herded his group of guppies towards the one in the front. Bruinen lead his group towards the other. As much as they didn’t want to be separated on the journey, there was no way they could fit nineteen mers into one carriage. The largest carriage could only hold ten mers.

The trip to the palace passed by in a blur. All too soon, they were pulling up in front of the main doors. They exited the carriages and slowly made their way up to the doors. A pair of guards pulled the doors open as they approached. On the other side was a long entrance hall with more doors branching off of it.

As they swam down the hall, one of the doors opened and a mermaid swam through. Seaton and Bruinen immediately recognized her as Orabelle. She smiled at them when she noticed they were there.

“Right on time. Her Majesty is waiting for you in the receiving room. Follow me please.”

She turned and swam through the door she had just emerged from. Left with little choice, Seaton and Bruinen herded their children through the door and down the smaller, though no less grand hall. There was a single door at the end of the hall. That was apparently their destination. On the other side of the door was a surprisingly simple room. It lacked many of the grand decorations and gildings that had been in the two hallways they had seen. Inside the room were two guards who had the same gold arm plates and tridents as Orabelle, which indicated that they were likely members of the Queen’s Personal Guard. They were standing guard on either side of yet another door. 

The two guards, a merman and a mermaid, nodded at Orabelle and opened the door so they could pass through. Inside this second room was a single mermaid, looking out one of the windows. She turned at the sound of the door opening and smiled upon seeing who was entering.

Orabelle bowed once they were all in the room.

“Your Majesty, may I present Seaton and Bruinen, and their children.”

Both Seaton and Bruinen bowed. The Queen waved a hand.

“Please. There is no need for formalities. I have called you here to discuss something of a personal nature.”

“We would be happy to assist you in whatever way we can.” Bruinen said.

“If you would like, Orabelle can take the children into the next room where they can play while we discuss the matter.” The Queen responded.

The two had one of their silent conversations. Despite some reservations, it would make the conversation, whatever it was about, much easier to have if they children were not hovering around and potentially demanding their attention.

Bruinen turned to the Queen. “That would be wonderful, your majesty.”

“Orabelle, if you would.”

  
Orabelle nodded. “Come along children. Let’s go into the other room and play.”

The guppies looked at their parents, who both nodded encouragingly, before following after the guard. Bruinen peeked into the room after all of the guppies had entered and saw that it was a spacious room with several toys lying around. It was also large enough that the guppies could play tag in it as well.

Satisfied that his children would be both safe and entertained, Bruinen returned to his mate and the Queen. 

“So what was it you wanted to talk about, Your Majesty?” He asked.

“First, you can call me Kailani. No need to call me majesty. We are all equals here. And the reason I called you here was about your son.” Kailani said.

“Which one?” Seaton asked, worry starting to build in his heart. Bruinen was also worried but he tried his best not to show it.

“The one with the unusual eye color. What is his name?”

“Halimeda. What is it about him that prompted you to request us to visit?” Bruinen answered.

“Halimeda was born with a unique power. The power to connect with all life in the ocean.” Kailani stated.

“Not to be rude or anything, but how could you possibly know that?” Seaton asked.

“Because it is a power that I myself possess.” Kailani answered. “I inherited the power from my sire, who was King before me.”

“But neither Bruinen nor I possess the power.” Seaton said, stating the obvious.

“You are of course, correct. There is one other way to gain the power.”

The conversation was briefly interrupted by a loud squeal from the other room. Both Seaton and Bruinen darted to the door, worried that something was wrong with one or more of their children. What the found was something completely different than what they had expected.

Several more guards had joined Orabelle and the children in the playroom. The older mers were chasing each other around the room in the same way that the guppies chased each other at home. There were several times when one of the guards came close to catching another guard. Every time that happened, the guppies would squeal and clap their hands in delight. This in addition to the smiles on their faces reassured Seaton and Bruinen that there was absolutely nothing wrong with their children. Satisfied, they returned to Kailani.

“Sorry for leaving in the middle of the conversation.” Seaton apologized.

Kailani waved the apology away. “Please. No apology is necessary. You thought that there was something wrong with one or more of your children. I will never hold it against any parent for leaving to attend to their children for any reason.

“You had asked me about how your son could have gained the power. First, I should clarify that I misspoke when I said I was connected to all life in the ocean. I am only connected to the life in my kingdom. From the biggest mer to the smallest guppy, I can feel all of them. The power was a gift from Poseidon to my ancestor Laiken, the first king of this kingdom. When the kingdom first began, Posideon granted Laiken one wish. Laiken’s wish was to be connected to his people. What he didn’t know until he sired children of his own was that the power would pass on to one of his children. It was Posideon’s way of saying who was meant to inherit the throne when Laiken stepped down or died.

“Throughout the history of the kingdom, one mer in each generation of our family has inherited the gift. I spent my life believing that one day, one of my children would inherit the gift. A few years ago I learned that I would never be able to have children or sire them.” At that admission, Kailani drifted back over to the window she had been looking out of when they first arrived. For several long minutes, she stared out the window and said nothing. Just when Seaton was considering going over and offering her support (and wasn’t that a thought, that he would be offering support to the Queen of the Mers), she spoke.

“For a long time, I wondered what would happen to the kingdom. Who would take over the throne when I died? Who would be the guardian, protector and leader of our people? Moons passed and I had no answers. Then one night, I received a dream from Poseidon. In the dream, he told me that one day, there would be a guppy born who would have the power he had granted to my family. This guppy would be the one to inherit the throne when I chose to step down or I died.”

Bruinen was stunned by the information he had just been given. His son, his youngest guppy, had been chosen by Posiedon to one day inherit the throne and be the King of their people. It was such a far fetched thought that he was having trouble processing it. How was it possible that his son could have been chosen by Posiedon before he had even hatched?

A quick glance at Seaton told Bruinen that his mate was feeling the same way. Seaton had no idea what to do with the information he had just been given and was struggling to process all of it. There were a few questions floating around Bruinen’s head that he wanted answered, if possible, that might help him make sense of what he had learned.

“So you’re saying that our son will one day be the King?” He asked.

Kailani turned to look at them. “It’s an option on the table. And right now, that is the way it will stay.”

“What do you mean?” Seaton asked.

“Poseidon may have chosen your son to be the king one day, but that doesn’t mean it has to happen.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t going against Posiedon tend to lead to bad things happening?” Seaton asked.

“It could. But despite what the Lord of the Ocean thinks, I won’t force anyone to take the throne who doesn’t want it. That would be worse than having an empty throne. A mer who does not want the throne and has not chosen it for themselves could do a lot of damage to this kingdom. And depending upon the damage done, it could be irreparable. I would rather have the throne be empty than have a mer like that as the ruler. It would undo most of the work my family has done since inheriting the throne.”

“So what are you saying? What do you have in mind?” asked Bruinen.

“What I have in mind is that when your son is a few seasons older, teaching him some of the things he would need to know in order to be King. As he gets older, I would teach him more of what he needs to know. In five seasons or so, when he is halfway to maturity, I would explain all of this to him, with your permission of course, and ask him if he wanted to one day be King. If he chose to follow that path, then I would finish teaching him what he needed to know so he could take over. If he decides it is not for him, then I will figure it out then.” Kailani explained. 

Bruinen exhaled a long breath. "This is a lot to take in."

"I would have waited until your son was a few seasons old before bringing this to your attention. But my advisors pointed out that it might be better to tell you now so that you would have time to process and think about everything before you make your decision."

"What happens if we agree to this, but you die before Hail is old enough to decide that he wants to be king." Seaton questioned. 

"That is always a possibility." Kailani agreed. "Of course, I don't plan on dying, but it is impossible to know what will happen in the future. If that should happen, you and Bruinen will rule as regents for your son until he is old enough. Once he is old enough to make that decision, if he decides it is not what he wants, the advisors would help you find the mer who will be the new ruler."

"How long do we have to give you our answer?" Bruinen asked. 

"It would be best if I had an answer by the time your son is two seasons old." Kailani answered. 

Bruinen looked at his mate and could see that Seaton was as relieved as he was. They did not have to make a major, life altering decision on behalf of their son immediately. They had time to discuss it and decide what would be best for him.

Seston had one last question. "Once we make our decision, how do we let you know?" 

"Send a messenger here to the palace letting me know that you've made a decision. I'll send carriages for you to bring you here to the palace."

"You've given us a lot to think about, Your Majesty. Once we've made our decision, we'll send a message to you." Bruinen said.

"Of course." Kailani said. "I'll have the carriages brought around to the side door. It will be a shorter distance to travel, since it looks like your guppies are worn out."

A glance into the other room showed that the queen was correct. Several of the guppies were curled into a pile on the floor. Those that weren't were slowly swimming around the room. It was easy to see that they were tired after playing with the guards. It had been something new for them.

It took some prodding, but eventually Seaton and Bruinen were able to rouse the guppies that had fallen asleep. They weren't happy about being woken, but reluctantly allowed their parents to herd them down the hall after Orabelle and to the side door that was much closer. The carriages were waiting as the Queen had promised they would be. Just before they got into the carriage, Kailani called their names. They stopped and looked back at her.

“While I don’t want everyone knowing about this conversation, I do not expect you to keep it from your families. You may discuss all of this with your parents and any siblings you may have.”

They nodded and climbed into the waiting carriages.

The trip home seemed to take longer than the trip to the palace had. Both Seaton and Bruinen were thinking about everything they had just been told and what it meant for their future. There was a lot to consider and even though they had been given time, they knew that it would pass by quickly and the time for them to make their decision would be here before they knew it.

Upon arriving home, Seaton and Bruinen herded the children into the house and into the nest. The guppies needed little prompting and immediately fell asleep as soon as they were in the nest. They were barely able to stay awake long enough to curl up in their pile. As soon as the children were asleep, Seaton turned to his mate.

“So, what do you think?”

“I honestly don’t know.” Bruinen answered. “Of all the things I thought the Queen might want to talk to us about, I never even considered that this might be an option. I had thought that perhaps it might have something to do with one or more of our children. I was prepared for that. But the revelations that we got were not something that I was prepared for.”

“Neither was I.” Seaton admitted. “I thought the same thing as you. That it would have something to do with one of our children. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that shortly after the children hatched, we receive an invitation to visit the queen at her palace. But this was not something that I had ever thought possible.”

Bruinen turned to look at his sleeping children. He immediately found Halimeda at the top of the pile, where he always slept. Ever since he had hatched, his youngest had always preferred to sleep on top of his brothers and sisters. At the time, he had just thought it was because of convenience when he had hatched. The top of the pile had been the easiest place for him to reach. Now, Bruinen wondered if it had truly been about convenience. Or if Hali had been giving them a hint that he was meant to be king one day. 

“What is your initial thought about all of this?” Bruinen asked.

“Honestly, there is a large part of me that wants to agree to this. This is an opportunity that many other mers only dream of. To be told by the Queen that your child has been blessed by Posiedon and could one day be King if that is what they want. I feel like we would be doing Hali a disservice if we didn’t at least give him the opportunity to make that choice for himself when he is old enough.” Seaton answered. “But at the same time, there is an equally large part of me that wants nothing to do with this. I want Hali, and all of our children, to have a normal life. Something that he could never have if we were to choose to allow him to at least be educated on what he would need to know to possibly one day become king.”

“I feel the same way.” Bruinen admitted. “I want him to have a normal life, but on the other hand, I wonder if he would resent us for not giving him the choice and allowing him to make it for himself. We’ve known since he hatched that of all our children, he would never have a normal life. When we saw his eyes, we knew that there was something different about him. Something that his brothers and sisters didn’t have. Now we know what it is. I feel like we should at least give him a choice.”

Seaton let out a sigh. “At least Kailani is giving us time to make this decision. And she has given us permission to talk to our families. I honestly don’t think I would be able to keep this from my ma.”

“You are terrible at keeping secrets.” Bruinen teased.

It worked. He got a small smile from Seaton. “Oh, shut up. It’s not like you’re any better.” 

Bruinen gasped in mock offense. “You take that back. I’ll have you know that I am excellent at keeping secrets.”

Seaton snorted. “Sure you are. Remind me, which one of us was unable to wait to tell his parents that we were engaged?”

“Can you blame me?” Bruinen asked. “The most wonderful merman in the entire ocean had just agreed to marry me. There is no way I would have been able to keep that from anyone, let alone my parents.”

“Whatever you want to tell yourself, barnacle brain.”

Bruinen was about to retort, but it was cut off by Seaton pulling him in for a kiss. He happily lost himself in the sensations.

**Epilogue**

Three seasons had passed since Seaton and Bruinen had first met with Her Majesty Queen Kailani. Since that day, they had discussed whether or not to allow Hali to receive the basic education that he would need. They had brought it up with their families as well. Styx had suggested that they send a message to the queen and see if they could visit again and ask more questions. The queen had responded that they were welcome to visit any time they liked. They need only let her know and she would send carriages for them. Seaton and Bruinen had taken her up on the offer and visited a dozen times since then. At each visit, they had asked questions about what the education would consist of, what Hali would be expected to do as King, how the power that they both shared worked, and many other things. Kailani patiently answered each of their questions, no matter how ridiculous they seemed. Even still, having all of their questions answered didn’t really make the process of coming to a decision any easier. It took them almost all of the time they had been given to make their decision.

Finally, Seaton and Bruinen had come to the agreement that they would at least allow Hali to receive the basic education and be given the choice when he was old enough.

Now they day had come in which Hali would attend lessons with Queen Kailani at the palace and begin to learn what he would need to know if he one day decided to be king. His lessons were supposed to have started four weeks ago, but they had to be postponed as Kailani had to leave unexpectedly. She had only returned a few days ago and immediately sent them a message saying that she had returned to the palace and they could begin Hali’s lessons whenever they were ready. Seaton and Bruinen had chosen today because Bruinen was off from work. This way they were both available to take Hali to the palace for his first lesson.

“Mama, mama.” A voice called.

Seaton turned from scanning for the carriage that was supposed to be coming for them to see his son heading straight for him. He opened his arms and caught Hali just as he crashed into him. The impact sent Steve backwards a little before he was able to stop himself.

“Hi baby. Are you excited for your first lesson?” He asked.

Hali nodded. “Fun mama.” 

Seaton nodded. “You’re right baby. It will be fun. Just make sure you listen and are good for Miss Kailani.”

Hali nodded seriously. “I be good, mama.”

Seaton smiled. “I know you will be, baby. You’re always good.”

“Of course he is.” A voice said from behind them. “He’s my son.”

Seaton turned to see Bruinen approaching with the rest of the guppies. “And just what is that supposed to mean?” He asked.

“It’s no secret that you got into more than your fair share of trouble when you were a guppy.” Bruinen answered. “And don’t you try to deny it either.”

Seaton nodded, conceding the point. “Fair enough. Although I would remind you that you were almost always right there with me.”

“The key word there is almost.”

Before Seaton could answer that, a cry from his children distracted him.

“Carriage! Carriage!”

He turned to look and saw that the carriages were indeed approaching. Within moments, they stopped in front of the house.

“Good morning Seaton, Bruinen.” Orabelle said as she opened the door to one of the carriages.

“Morning Orabelle.” They answered.

“Moinin.” The children cried. They all tried to crowd around the guard.

“Everyone into the carriage.” Seaton ordered. “You can see Miss Orabelle once we get to the palace.”

Orabelle smiled at each guppy as they piled into the carriages after their parents. She also accepted hugs from many of them. A few of them even had gifts for her that they were unwilling to wait to give to her. As soon as the last guppy was in, the doors shut and they took off for the palace, and the start of a new chapter.

**Author's Note:**

> A few notes to help make everything a little more clear.
> 
> Morcant = Morita  
Gar = Gabe Jones  
Duxor = Dernier  
Deniz = Dum Dum  
Nerissa = Natasha  
Cari = Clint  
Thames = Tony  
Jafar = Johnny  
Sokanon = Susan  
Styx = Sarah Rogers  
Gal = George Barnes  
Wynnifred = Winifred Barnes
> 
> Also, 1 season for mers equals about 6 months for use. So when the guppies are 3 seasons old, they are about 18 months old. But since mers mature faster than humans, an 18 month old mer is the equivalent of a 3-4 year old child. I based Hali's few words on the preschoolers that I teach.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Artwork for L'amour Conquiert Tout](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21188600) by [MsPooslie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsPooslie/pseuds/MsPooslie)


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